New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-06-07
ABOVE OR BELOW THE HUDSON.
ADVANTAGES OF BRIDGE OVER TUNNEL.
THE PENNsYLvANIAs REPORTED PRoJEcr-soME

| THE PgNNsYLvANIA's REPORTED PROJECT-soME
CONSIDERATIONS OF SAFETY AND CAPACITY
| To the EDITOR Of The Tribune.
sR Your Philadelphia dispatch in Wednesdays paper
that the Pennsylvania Railroad thinks of building
tworack tunnel under the Hudson, and having all the
ads centerng Jersey and their many feeders,
it in common. Thirty inches OF brick and onequarter
OF an inch OF iron form the tunnel and twelve feet
OF earth and st or whatever else makes the river bot
TOM protect 1t from the river Close by the pro-
posed ermin of this tunnel each side Of the Hudson
many large and powerful foreign steamships dock One
OF these the Egypt Span of the National Line is at
this moment riding at anchor not far from this tunnel
line Suppose tonight 1t blew up gale and she dragged
her big anchor down stream bit and 1t fouled
with this quarter of inch Of sheet iron and these few
bricks Does 1t not look as 1t might be bad for the tun
neli Almost the line the large steamer Wells
CITY, full OF sheet ttn has been lying for three months
at the bottom OF the river cut pecedy TO be sure
but just fatally by iceoe last winter Would you
TO be down in that tunnel when two thousand tons
OF ship and cargo came smashing down on top OF you
Would that quarter Of inch Of sheet iron and the
brick shell inside make you quito securel Add would
signboard each side of the river saying not TO
there prevented either dsasterl Even If the
tunnel Is to accommodate the vast traffic, will not most
persons hesitate to ride in it,
But serious objection to 1t Is that ii simply
could not begin to handle the business which would
press II at the start let alone five years later
No fewer than 1S5 trains OF passengers arrive at and
lS9 depart from Broad Street Station Philadelphia,
every day. II this is the business to-day Of road,
what ust it be of seven say nothing OF the natural
Increase In the immediate futurel The NewYork
Central and the Pennsylvania have already found their
volume OF business immense that they have had to
build long lines Of, not two but fourrack road, and
they constantly wanting more But II one trunk
road needs four tracks how going TO be accom-
molated WITH in all, only two tracks And IL train
breaks in two deras has any other serious acct
dent do thero fan un1e he ri m not
hours and even days TO clear it out and meanwhile keep
several hundred rainoads OF passengers and baggage
all side OF the river and that the wrong side
twO-track tunnel may do well enough for ono road of
back in the country somewhere where suburban trains
are unknown, but the single railroad throat Of a
mighty metropolis 1t would be an abect fzze If the
Pennsylvania road should undertake to build such
tunnel. tho Baltimore and Ohio with Its we'll
known PUCK ana energy would nave trstcass Driage
across tho Hudson inside or LOCO days Ana which
wond then be the popular way IN and out OF the city IL
Wher, the river is narrowest-the narrowest place for
thirty milesnauey from Stevenss Point 10 the foot OF
massive eiIhrack pier bridge, 100 feet wide and
100 feet high in the middle 50 clearing all shipping
bridge grade need be only 100 For nearly half the dis
lance across shld poles nc this dot the river
mel 900 Almost the entire shipping OF the port never
goes that high upstream anyway Nnetenths OF all the
canal boats going up ana down run in such small punches
that any man worth calling pilot could hardly let one
bump pier II he tried TO- The bulk OF this talk |
about bridge impeding navigation Is purely imaginary
They get long tow through up near Albany. |
what Is there so hard about 600 of Fourteen-sti On
these eight tracks four inbound, four bound out 5000
trains each way could pass with ease and safety every
twentyfour hours twice many there will be any
demand this side OF the year 1900. House the bridge
in, the great the Mississippi Mt 1T. Louis,
with wind we'd sides and broad driveway overhead |
Fox sleet Ice, passing craft all the old and TOO
well known causes OF delay in crossing the |
river. would forgotten. Instead OF merely |
Joining two cities like the cTamped and anti |
auated suspension affair TO Brooklyn 1t would unite
almost the entire country the hand with It's |
metropolis the other, while branch elevated tracks
OF freight and DO away with the lein Tor III
stance, Of 100000 paid yearly by the Pennsylvania
road for htrbOr freight transportation alone The annual
income from this the most Important ana pronaOle |
bridge in the world would be nearer 10 per cent than
Tho Pennsylvania road Is said To mean to spend |
$1,000 1000 FOR 10, tunnel and termnl But that would
quite build the bridge while IT, guarantee Of
interest only would all the stock to be taken
iuside or a month
And the plan to put the city station under Washing
square. But why not reach both sides OF the city
instead OF Onci Even II the Arcade Road turns from
Broadway into Washington Square that may do for the
West -c but how IS the incoming passengerto get over
90 the pOpulOus East side, aud TO |
BrOOklyni II cannot be many years TIL each side |
Of the city will have its ourtrack underground road
An easy station where both could meet would be under
Union square. and that Is exactly where sucb bridge
would in And from there to almost any point In
city. In the United states yon could Then go with
changing superintendent Ham, rightly
reported the utter inadequacy OF the Elevated
deal with the present traffic. let alone
that OF even ten years But this plan OF bridge
ana two through underground roads would meet the |
eUtre demands OF tue whole next generation aud leave
room 10 spare; would give every passenger a seat;
would rid Of the nuisance OF the SMELL smoke
aud din OF the elevated roads. and would be the most
profitable railroad system In the world Would lt not pay
the Pennsylvania people 10 look at 10 before wasting
their money hole In the mud. and hole too small
road, let alone dozento crawl in and out
Eee York, May %, 1887.